As has always been the case, it is only thriving capitalist economies that can afford to care about the environment. Only they have the disposable income available to keep things clean.

Failing states like Puerto Rico? Not so much. A quintessential representative thereof is their landfills – which have been unfettered receptacles for any and every nightmare mess Puerto Ricans produce.

Puerto Rico Is Full Of ‘Open Dumps’ Ripe For Spreading Zika, And EPA’s Ignoring Them: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ignored numerous reports that most of Puerto Rico’s landfills are out of compliance with federal law, and some could even become breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, according to a new report….(Puerto Rican attorney Hiram Torres) Montalvo’s hard-pressed to find a reason why the EPA, which is generally so eager to regulate every other aspect of life, has done nothing to enforce existing laws for Puerto Rico’s landfills.”

Listen, we get it. The EPA is awful. It’s just that they’re usually awful in an overbearing, over-regulatory way. This is a fresh take on their terribleness.

So some Puerto Ricans – protested. A lot of Puerto Ricans protested. And by “protested” – we mean totally shut down a landfill site.

Protests Halt Landfill Deposits in Peñuelas: “Protestors in Peñuelas have stopped industrial waste trucks from entering the Peñuelas Valley Landfill today, as part of the marches and protests that have been taking place to prevent the deposit of ashes in the landfill….The protests grew to include hundreds of protesters, and on Friday (11/25) morning, the number reached 1,000.…Among the protesters present on Friday were political figures such as Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, and Rafael Bernabe, former candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico. ”

Do the Puerto Rican protestors get similar global-Leftist coin infusions? Not yet sure.

One thing the Puerto Rican protestors have over their Pipeline cohorts? They have a legitimate point. Are they pressing that advantage well? Not so much:

“Randy Jensen, president and CEO of EC Waste, the company that manages the Peñuelas Valley Landfill stated that the attacks on the company are based on a misinformation campaign, and that the actions taken by the company (EC Waste) are both lawful and environmentally conscious, noting that the company’s operational standards meet and exceed the current regulations established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”

Get that? Puerto Rico is rife with landfills in serious breach of the EPA regulations the protestors want to see enforced. And they show up and blockade – one of the few landfills in compliance with the EPA regulations they want to see enforced.